Over 120 years ago, the ŠKODA company started life manufacturing bicycles. And over the years, we’ve sponsored cycling events and tours, although these have previously only been visible to those most committed to the sport.

Meanwhile, over the last decade cycling has grown from a niche interest in Britain to a mainstream pursuit. This began with TeamGB winning 14 cycling medals at the 2008 Olympics; by 2016, British cyclists had won the Tour de France four more times, and 1.6 million more Brits were cycling than a decade previously. Britain is now a cycling nation.

This is where we spotted an opportunity: Brits now love cycling; cycling is in ŠKODA’s DNA. So by showing how ŠKODA shares the nation’s love of cycling, we’d get people to love ŠKODA more.

The Tour De Celeb contestants came from a range of unlikely backgrounds including an Olympic gold medallist, an Ex-England Rugby player, a fashion model, a children’s TV presenter and a dancer. We filmed the celebrities preparing physically and mentally for the task ahead, as well as the gruelling race itself - the 2016 race was 146km long with four brutal climbs.

Our launch PR built awareness and excitement ahead of the programme launch, and additional digital content showcased the celebrities’ practical cycling tips, all linking through to ŠKODA’s online cycling hub.

We brought content from our amateur and professional partnerships together in our YouTube Channel and Facebook community WeLoveCycling. This showed followers how to ride faster on and off road, gave cycling tips and nutrition advice, and showed exclusive behind the scenes footage from cycling events.

The show reached over 2 million people (a 200% increase on the average audience delivery of the time slot on Channel 5), with the majority being ABC1s. Our digital content was seen by a further 5.2 million people. Sponsorship of the Tour de France and Tour of Britain reached 8.6m people on TV.

For those who saw the activity, belief that ŠKODA makes people happy through cycling increased by 68%.

This engagement translated into a significant shift in the audience’s attitude towards ŠKODA, with 72% of them more likely to consider ŠKODA following the show. 71% agreed that ŠKODA was a brand for them. Purchase intent increased 100% for this audience, with 66% of the audience taking an action.

All these contributed towards ŠKODA having their most successful Q4 ever, and growing volume 11% YOY, meaning that 2016 was a record-breaking year for the brand.